Article

Avoiding Risks when Staff Members Leave

Staff transitions happen all the time. Organizations spend a lot of time and effort onboarding new team members, but relatively little on the offboarding process. Most organizations entrust employees to access and information necessary for the job, but sensitive to the outside world – passwords, keys, financial information, contact lists, contracts, etc. And many employees, especially those in key roles, will have gathered important institutional knowledge, understanding of processes, personal filing systems for email and documents, and more. As staff come and go, it is important for an employer to have careful and deliberate offboarding processes to ensure a healthy transition and safeguard valuable information.

What processes do you have in place as a team member leaves? Do you have emergency procedures in the event of a sudden termination? How often do you require passwords to be reset? Are key policies and procedures written down and updated on a regular basis? Having a comprehensive plan is an important step in safeguarding your organization and ensuring a smooth transition.

Every organization will have different needs, but there are resources to help you get started. SilkRoad has a general roadmap available for free and the Harvard Business Review has an excellent article offering guidance.